Top 10 Performing States

1. Maine
2. New Hampshire
3. Vermont
4. West Virginia
5. Wyoming
6. Connecticut
7. Idaho
8. Delaware
9. Virginia
10. North Dakota

Top Takeaways

In many cases, the top five states are closer to HOPE goals for Community and Safety Factors.

• All top five states have either achieved or are very close to achieving the HOPE goals for low homicide and low physical assault rates.
• The top five states are also among the top cohort of states with low inequities and distance to goal on achieving low poverty concentration, with the exception of Maine. In Maine, although 84% of individuals live areas of low poverty, only 62% of Black and 57% of American Indian/Alaska Native populations do so.

Although the top five states perform better on many measures, there are important variations and exceptions.

• Whereas Vermont and Maine are close to the HOPE Goal for low sexual assault rates, Hawaii, New Hampshire and Idaho have average to above average distances to goal and inequities. In Idaho, Asian/Pacific Islander and Black populations in particular fare the worst (only 49% and 52%, respectively, live in counties with low sexual assault rates, compared to 67% of White populations.)
• There is also considerable variation in robbery rates. While all of Idaho, Maine and Vermont’s populations live in low robbery counties, New Hampshire and Hawaii perform poorly on this measure. New Hampshire has above average inequities with less than half of Black (47%) and Hispanic (43%) residents living in low robbery counties compared to 71% of White and 74% of American Indian/Alaska Native residents. Hawaii has a high distance to goal for all its populations on this measure with only 6-26% of its population living in counties with low robbery rates.

Bottom 10 Performing States

1. Tennessee
2. Nevada
3. Wisconsin
4. Oklahoma
5. Missouri
6. District of Columbia
7. Alaska
8. Nebraska
9. Arkansas
10. Pennsylvania

Top Takeaways

Bottom performing states generally have higher levels of inequities and distance to goals across indicators.

• In general, this means in the bottom five states, with a few exceptions, all populations have higher than average exposure to poor community and safety factors (i.e. greater than their counterparts in other states). Some race/ethnic groups fare even worse.
• Exceptions include Wisconsin with below average inequity and below average distance to goal on low sexual assault. Both Wisconsin and Oklahoma have below average levels of distance to goal on low robbery (with high inequity). Nevada has below average distance to goal and inequity in low poverty concentration. With the exception of low poverty concentration, Nevada as a whole is the farthest from HOPE Goals on community and safety factors.

The Black population is faring the worst across all indicators and most indicators across community and safety factors. There are stark differences between the leading population and Black individuals on several indicators (specifically low homicide, low physical assault, and low robbery)

• Across all five states, Black populations are the least likely to live in areas with low rates of homicide and physical assault (i.e., only 6-30% and 2-30%, respectively live in low homicide rate and low physical assault rate counties).
• For example, Black populations live in areas with more sexual assault and physical assault than their White counterparts in Wisconsin. 30% of Black residents live in low physical assault areas compared to 89% of White residents, and the same can be said with only 13.9% of Black residents living in low robbery areas compared to 74.8% of White residents.

Although a few states may have lower distance to goals, inequities are still high.

• For example, although the state rate in Nebraska for low poverty concentration indicator is 85%, 46.5% of Black and 48% of American Indian/Alaska Native populations are more likely to live in areas with higher poverty. The same is true for Wisconsin, where although the state rate is 86%, only 43% of Black, 64% of Hispanic, and 64% of American Indian/Alaska Native populations live in low poverty concentrated areas.